Bathing appliances in the nature of spas, or so-called hot tubs, have become commercially successful. These spas are typically constructed as a molded shell to form a water containment, with seats, footwells, platforms for reclining, and the like molded into the shape of the shell. The shell is usually molded from plastic or fiberglass or a composite thereof. A pump or pumps usually placed in a chamber under the shell draw water from the water containment and reinject the water, usually with air, into the containment through a variety of nozzles, hydrotherapy jets, and the like. The jets are usually mounted in the shell under the water line, and are designed to provide a comforting or therapeutic effect to a person in the spa. The jets are usually mounted by making a hole in the shell, and fixing the jet in the hole by a use of seals, adhesives, welding compounds, or a combination thereof. Water supply lines from the pumps to the jets are usually flexible tubing or rigid PVC tubing. After the jets and tubing are in place, an expandable foaming polymeric material is blown into the empty spaces to provide thermal and sound insulation. This construction system has been used widely and successfully, and is currently almost universally used.
One of the problems of conventional spa construction is that the configuration of the spa is essentially fixed at the time of construction. Since the jets are fixed in a hole in the spa shell, replacement of the jet is difficult or impractical. Replacement in the least would required an extensive reconstruction involving removing the old jet (usually by cutting out the jet), and installation of the new jet requiring repair and resealing of the shell around the new jet. In addition, the water and air supply lines to the jets must be replaced or reinstalled on the new jet, requiring access from the bottom of the spa and removal and replacement of the foam insulation surrounding the lines. Because such replacement is burdensome, a user will usually avoid a jet replacement unless absolutely necessary. If a new jet type is introduced into the market or the tastes of the bather change for a difference jet type, the difficulties of replacement basically preclude user from changing the jets.
There have been proposals to alleviate this problem, but none have met with commercial success. An example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,433, to Lake, is a spa comprising a single large water-containing vessel. The spa has threaded holes in the wall of the vessel for attachment of furniture. Unused holes are blocked with a threaded plug. Jets, which are mounted in the removable furniture, are supplied with water and air by lines or hoses extending from holes in the wall of the vessel to the jet. While this system permits modification of the spa jets and furniture configuration, it does so at the cost of a multitude of holes through the wall of the water containment, which represents substantial risk of leaks, and significant costs in providing multiple mounting threaded holes. In addition, it would be difficult cumbersome to remove the separate air and water lines for the jets to remove the furniture. Where there are multiple jets, it would involve a multitude of hoses and connectors for each jet station.
Discussion of Previous Application
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,989, which is hereby incorporated by reference, is disclosed a spa wherein jets are mounted upon removable panels, that represent the back rests for various reclining positions in the spa. Basically the system disclosed comprises a spa shell with hollows or pods molded into the spa shell. The jets are mounted to direct water into the spa containment by attachment to the removable panel, which is also a cover over the pod. Jet supply lines are attached to the backside of the removable panel and communicate with a water supply by a removable attachment. This allows a user to easily remove the panel and the water supply lines of the jets in order to replace a panel. The removable panel covers the pod and includes structure for attaching the top of the panel to the spa shell and usually also a surface that functions as a head rest or an attachment for a separate head cushion.
The removable panel system has proven to be successful in providing an easy user-upgradable system. To replace a malfunctioning jet or upgrade to a new jet configuration, the user easily disconnects the top of the panel from the shell to gain access to the manifold system, disconnects jet supply lines at the manifold, and removes the panel. A new panel with the new jet is then inserted in place by first inserting the bottom of the panel under the retaining lip of the hollow, reattaching the jet supply lines and reattaching the top of the panel. A problem with this design occurs when there is a change in the structure for attaching the top of the panel, or a change in configuration of the headrest. If a new panel is to be attached at its top to the shell, it must have the identical fixture for attachment as the original panel. If the spa is to remain truly upgradable, the attachment system must remain the same for all new panels, or the spa has to be reconstructed with the new attachment system. For example, a spa with a screw attachment system, cannot be upgraded with panels that use locking pins. This severely compromises the ability of the manufacturer to improve and upgrade the attachment system of the panels, while keeping the new system compatible with older models.
Another problem involves the headrests. If the configuration of the headrest on the new panel is different from the old headrest, it will differ from those that remain from the original spa construction. Thus, the user is presented with a hodgepodge appearance of different styles on the spa, which is undesirable and unacceptable to many users. Since it is desirable from a marketing standpoint for a manufacturer to periodically change the style of headrests to respond to changing tastes and technologies, it is not desirable that the design of the headrest be unchangeable. In addition, it is also not practical for a spa supplier to maintain an inventory of all discontinued headrests and attachment systems.
It would therefore be desirable to provide the easy upgradability as in the system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,989, but providing a greater flexibility. This would permit a new attachment and headrest systems for new spas, while retaining compatibility for new panel-mounted jets with old spa models.
Objects of the Invention
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an improvement over the modular jet system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,989 where the problems of upgradability of the system are solved.
Further objects of the invention will become evident in the description below.